29 April 2023 , 06:53
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Joe Simmonds says it would be a mistake for anyone at La Rochelle to bill tomorrow’s Champions Cup semi-final as Exeter’s last dance.
Half the Chiefs team which won the 2020 Heineken Cup leave the club this summer, so defeat in Bordeaux would effectively bring down the curtain.
But Simmonds, who captained Exeter to the league and European double three seasons ago, receiving an MBE for his troubles, insists nobody at the Devon club is considering that scenario.
“People are saying this is our last dance, that’s not how we see it,” said the fly-half. “The last dance is the final. If you look at our track record we are good against French sides. We take huge confidence from that.”
Rob Baxter’s team are 7/2 long shots against opponents who have reached the last two finals, beating Leinster to the prize in Marseille a year ago.
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La Rochelle have knocked Northampton, Gloucester and Saracens out of this season’s tournament and are firmly in contention for a first Top-14 title.
Simmonds (centre right) captained Chiefs to European glory in 2020 (PA)By contrast, Exeter have missed out on the Premiership play-offs for only the second time in eight years and will have only a fraction of La Rochelle’s support in the 42,000 sellout crowd.
Given that they are about to bid farewell to stars including Joe and his England No8 brother Sam Simmonds, Jack Nowell, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Stuart Hogg, it is hard not to view this as their final fling.
“Any team had that many changes it would definitely be their last dance,” said La Rochelle forward Will Skelton. “But Exeter are a great team and they’ll definitely bring it this weekend.”
Simmonds scores against Toulouse in 2020 Champions Cup semi-final (Getty Images)Skelton is wise to add that caveat, given Chiefs have already beaten Castres and Montpellier to add to the scalps of La Rochelle, Toulouse and Racing from their cup-winning campaign.
“What you have to remember is that although it has been a frustrating and inconsistent season for us at times, we haven’t been like that in Europe,” cautioned Baxter.
“Some of our poor performances have happened around the European games, simply because we’ve put emotionally a lot into this campaign.”
Sam Simmonds celebrates an Exeter try during their dramatic last-16 win over Montpellier (Getty Images)Pau-bound Joe Simmonds is clear that none of the players headed for the exit have clocked off yet.
“Believe me, we all have one goal and that is to win the trophy,” he said. “We go in as underdogs, a lot of people think we can’t win there.
“But that plays into our hands massively because we, the players, know we have what it takes to get the job done.
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Will Skelton is part of a power-packed set of La Rochelle forwards (Icon Sport via Getty Images)“It requires us to come out of the blocks firing, defensively give them no time and be relentless for 80 minutes. But we’ve been there and done that before against French teams.”
La Rochelle: Brice Dulin, Dillyn Leyds, UJ Seuteni, Jules Favre, Raymond Rhule; Antoine Hastoy, Tawera Kerr Barlow; Reda Wardi, Pierre Bourgarit, Uini Atonio, Romain Sazy, Will Skelton, Ultan Dillane, Levani Botia, Grégory Alldritt (capt).
Replacements: Quentin Lespiaucq Brettes, Joel Sclavi, Georges Henri Colombe, Thomas Lavault, Paul Boudehent, Remi Bourdeau, Thomas Berjon, Teddy Thomas.
Exeter: Tom Wyatt, Jack Nowell (capt), Henry Slade, Sean O'Brien, Olly Woodburn; Joe Simmonds, Will Becconsall; Scott Sio, Dan Frost, Marcus Street, Jannes Kirsten, Jonny Gray, Jacques Vermeulen, Christ Tshiunza, Sam Simmonds.
Replacements: Jack Yeandle, Nika Abuladze, Josh Iosefa-Scott, Aidon Davis, Dave Ewers, Stu Townsend, Harvey Skinner, Stuart Hogg.